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Okta

and

Salesforce

have both shared troubling news recently, but Guggenheim lifted its ratings on the cloud-based software stocks, saying the shares’ prices now reflect the companies’ challenges.

Analyst John DiFucci raised his rating on 

Okta

and

Salesforce

to Neutral from Sell on Friday. The upgrade comes after both companies recently noted that customers are taking longer to sign deals.

Salesforce trimmed its full-year financial guidance on Aug. 25 due to the change in buying patterns and moves in currency exchange rates. The dollar has taken off this year, reducing revenue collected in other currencies when it is converted into greenbacks.

Separately, Okta this week said it is facing unexpected problems integrating the identity software company Auth0, which it acquired in 2021.

For Okta, DiFucci sees the “execution issues and bad news as now priced in” for the stock, saying the company has ample room to grow in the workplace-identity market and other areas.“Despite execution challenges, we believe there is time to right the ship,” he said.

Okta’s stock (ticker: OKTA) is down 71% this year, while Salesforce (CRM) has declined 39%.

DiFucci acknowledged the macroeconomic and company-specific challenges Salesforce, but said the stock also seems to have hit bottom. Salesforce has declined 20% since he began covering it on Aug. 11, compared with a 7% decline in the S&P 500 and a 12% drop in iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV).

Guggenheim isn’t the only one asking investors to hold on. Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco, said in an interview late last month that “we may have more volatility and more downside [in the overall] markets but they are going to create really good buying opportunities. “

Write to Karishma Vanjani at karishma.vanjani@dowjones.com